Dendritic cells (DCs) are recognized to be powerful antigen presenting cells for inducing cellular immunologic responses in humans, and play a key role in eliciting effective anti-tumor immune responses. DCs prime both CD8+ cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) and CD4+ T-helper (Th1) responses. DCs are capable of capturing and processing antigens, and migrating to the regional lymph nodes to present the captured antigens and induce T-cell responses. In humans, DCs are a relatively rare component of peripheral blood (<1%), but large quantities of DCs can be differentiated from CD34+ precursors or blood monocytes utilizing expensive cytokine cocktails. Alternatively, by treating an extracorporeal quantity of blood using a process referred to herein as transimmunization, a large number of immature DCs can be induced to form from blood monocytes without the need for cytokine stimulation. These immature DCs can internalize and process materials from disease effectors, such as antigens, DNA or other cellular materials, to induce cellular immunologic responses to disease effectors.
Accordingly, the present invention includes methods of producing vaccines comprising dendritic cells loaded with cellular materials to induce cellular immunologic responses to disease effectors.